More inmates, higher food costs strain county budget

May 13, 2008|By SAMUEL KING WSBT-TV Reporter

SOUTH BEND (WSBT) Â? Rising food costs are putting a strain on budgets and the St. Joseph County Jail is no exception. The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners voted to approve an additional appropriation of $100,000 to cover the increased costs.

The county jail is facing a problem on two fronts. There are more inmates in the jail to feed and the costs to feed them have spiked.

Â?We've had increases in everything from juice products, milk products, meat, chicken especially has gone up a lot,Â? said Tom Nowicki, finance director for the St. Joseph County Police. Â?It was a surprise that it was this much. The fact that we were going to have to come back is something that we've known for a couple of months now when we looked at the budget and looked at how much we were spending on food.Â?

Commissioner Mark Dobson told WSBT News he approved the request, because the jail has to maintain a certain standard of care above basic sustenance.

Â?It was something we couldn't say no to,Â? Dobson said. Â?Now if the population of the jail was going down, we could, but unfortunately the population of the jail has increased."

Commissioners applauded the county police department's plans to reduce fuel costs. The county police have stripped employees of their cars if they are not on-call. TheyÂ?ve also restricted the use of officersÂ? cars when they are off-duty.

Commissioners also approved a plan to restrict the use of take home cars by county employees, other than those in the county police. Only those who need a car in the course of their daily work would be allowed to take them home.